Police code of silence gets broken

Monday

Jun 24, 2013 at 6:00 AMJun 24, 2013 at 6:25 AM

Clive McFarlane

Keith Logan, a former Worcester police officer, claims in an affidavit that vice squad officers would routinely brag about beating up people, and that when these officers used force that led to the injuries of prisoners, those injuries would be explained as “the prisoner violently struggled or resisted.”

In the affidavit, Mr. Logan spoke of a “code of silence” that prevents incidents of police misconduct from being reported.

The affidavit was part of a recently settled police brutality case against the city in which the plaintiff, Anthony Hayes, received $100,000, and it calls into question whether enough is being done to rid the Police Department of rogue officers.

But Police Chief Gary Gemme dismissed Mr. Logan as someone lacking credibility, noting that the former police officer resigned abruptly after being confronted with evidence that could have resulted in his termination and the forfeiting of his 20-year career.

In an affidavit that was part of another police brutality case, the chief spoke of having a progressive discipline system, “so that even minor failings and shortcomings are addressed at the supervisory level.”

Since his tenure, he noted, he has sustained some 539 violations against 148 police officers, which brought about various disciplinary measures, including the termination of two officers, a decision by five to retire and two to resign prior to being disciplined, counseling session for 17, written reprimands for 15 , and a “Last Chance Agreement” signed by 10, in which “a repeat violation results in immediate termination without a right of appeal by the employee.”

“In my 30-year career as a police officer, I have found the concept of a police code of silence to be more fiction than reality,” he said Friday.

“In the case referenced, Logan’s allegations were not supported by the facts.”

But civil rights lawyer Hector Pineiro, who has won police brutality settlement suits against the city, and who has several other cases he is currently pursuing, said the Police Department is still following a number of unacceptable policies.

He said, for example, the department is still ignoring a 1986 court ruling that charged the city with failing to instruct officers on the amount of force they should use in making arrests and on the need to inspect injured prisoners and file appropriate injury reports.

According to Mr. Pineiro, while complainants are interviewed by Internal Affairs, the police officer against whom the complaint is directed is rarely given a formal interview, and while Chief Gemme is required by law to review every injured prisoner report, the chief has noted on record that he neither receives nor reviews injured prisoner reports.

“That is unacceptable,” Mr. Pineiro said, adding that a city of Worcester’s size should provide citizens the capability of filing complaints electronically.

There is ample evidence that Chief Gemme has done much during his tenure to cleanup the department, but there are mounting signs ($1.6 million and climbing in police brutality settlements) that he can’t do it by himself.

The city manager and the City Council must provide greater oversight, and asking a federal judge, as the city is now doing, to keep dozens of documents and other information in the Anthony Hayes case, settled in April, away from the public, is not the way to do it.

Those documents, which include depositions from Chief Gemme and other high-ranking police officials, could give a clearer picture of the department’s policies and procedures and thus should be released to the public.